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Biomedical subjects

T F Huang

Publications and source records attributed to T F Huang.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Effect of the purified phospholipases A2 from snake and bee venoms on rabbit platelet function.

Effects of seven purified phospholipases A2 from the venoms of snakes (Naja naja atra, Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus and T. gramineus) and honey bee (Apis mellifera) on rabbit washed platelet suspension in the absence of bovine serum albumin have been studied. Only phospholipases A2 from N. n. atra, T. mucrosquamatus and A. mellifera venoms induced platelet aggregation with small amounts of 14C-serotonin release. They showed tachyphylaxis and also cross-tachyphylaxis in inducing platelet aggregation. The former two phospholipases A2 exhibited biphasic responses in which irreversible aggregations appeared at concentrations of 1-10 micrograms/ml. At higher concentrations, they elicited the reversible aggregation. Exogenous Ca2+ was essential to their activity. Indomethacin and EDTA completely abolished both phospholipase A2 induced platelet shape change and aggregation, while mepacrine, prostaglandin E1, verapamil and nitroprusside inhibited only the aggregation response. p-Bromophenacyl bromide-modified phospholipases A2, which almost completely lost enzymatic activity, failed to induce platelet aggregation. Phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylinositol inhibited the phospholipase A2-induced platelet aggregation. These phospholipases A2 induced thromboxane B2 formation which was inhibited by EDTA and indomethacin, but not by prostaglandin E1. Pre-treatment of platelet suspension with phospholipase A2 from N. n. atra or A. mellifera venom (50 micrograms/ml) inhibited platelet aggregation induced by sodium arachidonate or collagen, but not that induced by thrombin or ionophore A-23187. Exogenous sodium arachidonate or lysophosphatidylcholine also showed unaltered inhibitory spectrum on platelet aggregation. It is concluded that phospholipases A2 induce platelet aggregation by virtue of their enzymatic activity, cleaving the membrane phospholipids resulting in arachidonic acid release and formation of thromboxane A2. On the other hand, the cleaved products, lysophosphatidylcholine, arachidonic acid or arachidonate metabolites (via lipoxygenase pathway) may be responsible for anti-platelet activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

A potent platelet aggregation inducer from Trimeresurus gramineus snake venom.

A potent platelet aggregation inducer (platelet aggregoserpentin) was purified from Trimeresurus gramineus snake venom by DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and Sephacryl S-300 column chromatography. It was homogeneous as judged by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It elicited dose-dependently platelet aggregation and serotonin release reaction in rabbit platelet-rich plasma and platelet suspension. Exogenous calcium was required for its activity. Creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase and apyrase showed no significant inhibitory effect on aggregoserpentin-induced platelet aggregation in platelet suspension. Aggregoserpentin induced aggregation in ADP-refractory platelet-rich plasma. It caused no detectable malonic dialdehyde formation in the process of platelet aggregation. Indomethacin did not inhibit aggregoserpentin-induced platelet aggregation. Mepacrine abolished preferentially its aggregating activity, while prostaglandin E1 completely blocked both aggregoserpentin-induced aggregation and release reaction. Furthermore, platelet aggregoserpentin lowered basal and prostaglandin E1-stimulated cAMP levels in platelet suspension. Nitroprusside inhibited both its aggregating and releasing activity, while verapamil preferentially blocked its aggregating activity. It is concluded that aggregoserpentin activated platelets through lowering cAMP levels or the activation of endogenous phospholipase A2, resulting in the formation of platelet activating factor, but not of prostaglandins.

Adenine Nucleotides↗
PubMed1983

Potent platelet aggregation inhibitor from Trimeresurus gramineus snake venom.

Using DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column chromatography and gel filtration, a potent platelet aggregation inhibitor from Trimeresurus gramineus venom was purified. It was an acidic phospholipase A, rich in aspartic acid, glutamic acid and half-cystine, with an isoelectric point of 3.6. At a concentration of 10 micrograms/ml, the purified inhibitor showed a marked inhibitory effect on platelet aggregations induced by adenosine diphosphate, collagen, sodium arachidonate and ionophore A-23187 in rabbit platelet-rich plasma, washed platelet suspension, as well as in thrombin-degranulated platelet suspension. The ID50 of this venom inhibitor was about 2.5-5 micrograms/ml in platelet aggregations induced by all these aggregation inducers. The action of this inhibitor could be partially antagonized by phosphatidylethanolamine. High concentration of Ca2+ (5 mM) did not reverse the inhibitory action even in the presence of ionophore A-23187. The [14C]serotonin release induced by sodium arachidonate and thrombin was unaffected. Malonic dialdehyde formation induced by these aggregation inducers remained unchanged. Basal and prostaglandin E1-stimulated cAMP levels were not altered by this inhibitor. No lactate dehydrogenase was released even at a concentration of 62.5 micrograms/ml. Polylysine-induced platelet agglutination was not affected. beta-Mercaptoethanol inactivated both its phospholipase A enzymatic and platelet inhibitory activities, while p-bromophenacyl bromide only inactivated the former activity. The possibility of acting on a common final step of platelet aggregation, i.e. the intercellular adhesion between the activated platelets, was proposed.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Deletion analysis of the retroregulatory site for the lambda int gene.

The lambda int gene product, integrase, recombines phage and bacterial DNA at a specific site during the integration step of lysogeny. Regulation of integrase synthesis is complex. (1) Transcription of the gene can occur from either of two promoters. lambda cII protein activates transcription initiation near int at pI. The lambda N protein allows transcription of int from pL. N protein acts by preventing transcription termination at several terminators between pL and int. (2) The expression of integrase is also subject to post-transcriptional regulation by a site, sib, which is located beyond int in the b region of lambda. Expression of int from pL is inhibited by sib, whereas that from pI is not. The negative control of int expression by sib is termed retroregulation. Retroregulation of int is caused, in part, by processing of the pL transcript at the sib site by RNase III of Escherichia coli. The exonuclease, Bal31, was used to generate a set of deletions to define the sib regulatory site. Both sib+ and sib- deletions were sequenced, and it was concluded from this and other work that a dyad symmetry present in the b region, 270 base-pairs from int, was necessary for retroregulation. The RNA structure of this segment is similar to other RNase III-sensitive sites found in E. coli and phage RNAs.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1983

alpha-Fibrinogenase from Agkistrodon rhodostoma (Malayan pit viper) snake venom.

By means of DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column chromatography, Agkistrodon rhodostoma (Malayan pit viper) snake venom was separated into eleven fractions. Fraction II had fibrinogenolytic activity, and when further purified by gel filtration was homogeneous, as judged by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It had a single peptide chain with a molecular weight of 25,360 and an isoelectric point greater than 10. The fibrinogenolytic activity was completely destroyed after heating for 30 min at 60 degrees C at pH 5.6, 7.4 or 8.8. This enzyme cleaved specifically the alpha(A) chain of monomeric fibrinogen, without cleaving the beta(B) chain or gamma chain. The specific fibrinogenolytic activity was 51 mg fibrinogen/min per mg protein. This enzyme showed proteolytic activities toward fibrinogen, fibrin and casein, but was devoid of phospholipase A and tosyl-L-arginine methylester esterase activities which are found in the crude venom. The fibrinogenolytic activity was inhibited by EDTA and cysteine, but not by epsilon-aminocaproic acid.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

A potent platelet aggregation inhibitor purified from Agkistrodon halys (mamushi) snake venom.

By means of gel filtration on Sephadex G-75, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column chromatography and three gel filtrations on Sephadex G-75, a potent platelet aggregation inhibitor was purified from Agkistrodon halys snake venom and shown to be a single peptide chain, as judged by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The purified platelet aggregation inhibitor was an acidic protein with a molecular weight of 14,000 and possessed phospholipase A2 activity. Its inhibitory activity on platelet aggregation was heat stable (at 96 degrees C, 30 min) in an acidic medium (pH 5.5), while its phospholipase A enzymatic activity was heat labile under the same conditions. Its inhibitory activity on platelet aggregation induced by thrombin, sodium arachidonate, collagen or ionophore A-23187 was non-competitive and dose-dependent with a similar ID50 (approximately 11 micrograms/ml). It exerted its inhibitory action without pre-incubation with platelet suspension, however, its inhibitory effect could be moderately increased after longer incubation (30 min).

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1983

Inhibition of platelet aggregation by 5'-nucleotidase purified from Trimeresurus gramineus snake venom.

By means of DEAE-Sephadex A-50 column chromatography and gel filtrations on Sephadex G-75, Sephacryl S-300 and Sephadex G-100, successively, a potent 5'-nucleotidase was purified from Trimeresurus gramineus venom. The venom 5'-nucleotidase is a single polypeptide chain and homogeneous as judged by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It is a thermostable glycoprotein consisting of 589 amino acid residues. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 74,000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. It possessed nucleotidase activities toward adenosine monophosphate and adenosine diphosphate. The specific activities toward AMP and ADP were 504 +/- 28 and 101 +/- 8 micrograms Pi/min per mg, respectively. Pre-incubation of this venom's 5'-nucleotidase with ADP resulted in the cleavage of ADP and formation of adenosine. The 5'-nucleotidase activity was inhibited by EDTA. Both Zn2+ and Co2+/- reversed the inhibitory effect of EDTA. In rabbit platelet-rich plasma, it inhibited completely the ADP (2 x 10(-5) g/ml)-induced platelet aggregation. It also inhibited the platelet aggregations induced by sodium arachidonate (100 microM), collagen (20 micrograms/ml) and ionophore A-23187 (5 microM)-induced platelet aggregations were not affected significantly by this venom 5'-nucleotidase. In ADP-refractory platelet-rich plasma, the venom 5'-nucleotidase inhibited the platelet aggregations induced by collagen (20 micrograms/ml) or sodium arachidonate (100 microM). The venom 5'-nucleotidase showed a more pronounced inhibitory effect on sodium arachidonate-induced platelet aggregation than creatine phosphate/creatine phosphokinase and apyrase did. No lactate dehydrogenase was released by this venom 5'-nucleotidase, indicating that no platelet lysis occurred. It is concluded that removal of ADP, which is released by these platelet aggregation inducers, and the subsequent accumulation of adenosine are responsible for the inhibitory effect of the venom 5'-nucleotidase on platelet aggregations.

5'-Nucleotidase↗
PubMed1979

Alpha and beta-fibrinogenases from Trimeresurus gramineus snake venom.

By means of DEAE-Sephadex A-50 Column chromatography, Trimeresurus gramineus venom was separated into twelve fractions. The fibrinogenolytic activities were distributed in Fractions 1 and 10. These enzymes were further purified by gel filtration and were homogeneous as judged by cellulose acetate membrane, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ultracentrifugal analysis. Both of them were single peptide chains. The sedimentation constants of alpha- (Fraction 1) and beta-fibrinogenases (Fraction 10) were 2.20 and 3.60, respectively. The molecular weights of alpha- and beta-fibrinogenases were 23 500 and 25 000 respectively. The contents of proline and glycine were higher in beta-fibrinogenase than in alpha-fibrinogenase. The isoelectric points of alpha-fibrinogenase and beta-fibrinogenase were pH greater than 10 and 4.5, respectively. The optimal pH of alpha-fibrinogenase was approx. 7.4 and that of beta-fibrinogenase was approx. 9.0. The activity of alpha-fibrinogenase was completely destroyed after 30 min at 60 degrees C, pH 5.4, 7.4 and 9.0, while that of beta-fibrinogenase was much less affected by the same treatment. The specific fibrinogenolytic activity alpha-fibrinogenase was 31 mg fibrinogen/min per mg protein, while that of beta-fibrinogenase was 9 mg fibrinogen/min per mg protein. alpha-Fibrinogenase cleaved specifically the alpha(A) chain of monomeric fibrinogen without cleaving the beta(B) chain and gamma-chain. beta-fibrinogenase preferentially cleaved the beta(B) chain, and the alpha(A) chain was also partially cleaved by beta-fibrinogenase, if the incubation time was prolonged. Both enzymes showed proteolytic activities toward fibrinogen, fibrin and casein, but were devoid of phospholipase A, alkaline phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase activities found in the crude venom. The tosyl-L-arginine methylester esterase activity of beta-fibrinogenase was about 14 times that of crude venom, while alpha-fibrinogenase was completely devoid of this activity. The fibrinogenolytic activity of alpha-fibrinogenase was markedly inhibited by EDTA and cysteine, while that of beta-fibrinogenase was inhibited markedly by phenylmethanesulfonylfluoride. alpha- and beta-fibrinogenases exert their fibrinogenolytic activity by a direct action on fibrinogen or fibrin without activation of plasminogen.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Effect of verapamil on experimental arrhythmias.

Verapamil 0.25-1.0 mg/kg i.v. did not significantly elevate the ventricular fibrillation threshold in dogs. It did not antagonize the deslanoside arrhythmias, but inhibited transiently the arrhythmias induced by either electrical stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus or bilateral carotid occlusion in cats. Effect of verapamil on the aconitine-induced rapid firing of the isolated atria and ventricles of the young rabbit and chick embryos was also studied with the microelectrode technique. In doses of 5, 10 and 20 microng/ml, it suppressed the rapid firing of the cardiac preparations, with exception of the ventricles of the rabbit. Antiarrhythmic action of verapamil in such high concentration seems to be due to non-specific inhibitions of Na+ channels of the myocardial cells.

Aconitine↗